the scariest things a D&D player could say

[@kubratichuplays4242]

Every DM’s nightmare: players actually utilizing their abilities 😰

[@pedrogarcia8706]

or the scariest of all...taking notes

[@mortian7566]

wouldnt be a nightmare if 5e was actualy a good balanced system that cares about the dm as well, but well it isnt

[@deeznuttes9340]

@@mortian7566 cry more, retard

[@handles438]

@@mortian7566 100% agree. 5e is designed to give the players an absolute power trip while taking a fat nasty crap all over the GM. How many challenges have you made where the player can just wave their hand and undo it? It's crazy to me that people defend it and say "you're just not a good GM" when there are people out there that have a made a career on youtube pointing out how broken 5e is. It is not well designed at all. We tried out EZD6 past couple 1 shots. Once our current campaign is over, I'm fairly certain I'll never touch 5e again. It's an absolute joke.

[@hadarc01]

The HORROR

[@Crimjam]

The truly scariest thing a player can say is: "I can't make it to today's session"

[@Telhias]

Said the player being an hour late after the GM called him and he finally answered.

[@Manahyde]

"I forgot we're playing today and I'm already high" is also a favorite of mine. We had to pick the guy up and he was barely remembering who he was playing.

[@TrollMalefico1984]

What about : "F*ck this sh1t, I'm out"?

[@upharieldurin]

My last problem is that they stopped saying "I can't make it to today's session", but started saying : "Ho I'm sorry I forgot to warn you I couldn't make it to last night's session"

[@anarchosnowflakist786]

@@TrollMalefico1984 that's clear and everyone knows they can continue without that player, "I can't make it today" means everyone needs to reschedule

[@zow8238]

Okay. But that Keen Mind Player who transcribed that convo like a freakin' Court Stenographer should be lauded. That's genuinely impressive.

[@ayaanmohammad6645]

600 words per minute AND Keen Mind

[@pedrogarcia8706]

yeah why is it scary that a player is a) taking extensive notes, and b) using information told to them in a previous session to solve the riddle in front of them? These both seem like the exact thing you're supposed to do.

[@Entaris]

@@pedrogarcia8706 Yeah...In my experiences the player that takes keen mind uses that as an excuse to take zero notes. Keen mind is often used as a "The DM is my notes now"

[@ignaciogimeno5701]

I have a player like that and is a blessing for me. When I may had forget something that i improv in the moment of a short campaing 4 months ago I can just ask him for his 11 pages of notes. The down side is that if you ever let something out that you shouldn't, that guy will know and never forget about it. Great palyer 10/10 btw

[@XPtoLevel3]

This player is my wife

[@spikevalantine8336]

Pro Tip for every DM that tries to hide the villain in plain sight: Make two or three potential villains and make the big revelation interchangeable between these character, just in case the party derails a bit, or kills one of those characters of. Saved the end of my campaign once.

[@lightbearerslamp]

Nystul’s magic aura is second level, you could say it is active or that the npc has a magic item for it. Non-detection is also useful, but that is more noticeable if they actually do try to scry on them. But the multiple sus npcs thing is a great technique that I will try to use going forward as well.

[@arthurmoore9488]

@@lightbearerslamp Remember, you can also have someone non-sus be the bad guy.

[@HopeinSpades]

Exactly, no one wants to go full "With this character's death, the thread of prophecy is severed" just because you, as the dm, didn't account for the team killing the villain early, intentionally or otherwise.

[@steeledminer616]

Or make the villain so strong that them hiding in plain sight doesn't matter, they just change the MO as soon as they get had.

[@KaitouKaiju]

Take another option: there is no bad guy just a lot of paranoia-causing strife and conflict

[@colinlinvill1310]

I can't believe you left out the *single* scariest line for any DM *and* the rest of the party... "I'm just playing my alignment"

[@godofzombi]

That's the lawfull good version of "It's what my character would do."

[@JB-xl2jc]

@godofzombi *Slits the party's throats in their sleep* "It's what my character would do, he has attachment issues"

[@mutanthybrid3466]

Yeah, Chaotic Neutral.. LOL "I will do anything without even knowing what I am doing from one moment to the next.." LOL

[@GBS4893]

@@mutanthybrid3466 This one's the classic chaotic stupid

[@mutanthybrid3466]

@@GBS4893 Yeah, I had one of those in one of my campaigns. I was like, "If you are that good at role playing, why not roleplay an actually intelligent, rational person for a change?" It almost seems like the Chaotic Stupid people are just trying desperately to troll the entire campaign for no reason.

[@killianasheart5175]

Keen mind. The feat that basically allows you to ask in character “Hey god what happened last time?”

[@LJCyrus1]

Personally I think the DM should require the player to ask something more specific than "what happen".

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

Imagine playing a Face character, but you are too incompetent in your ability to speak, so you *have* to rely on the roll of a die to determine whether or not you succeeded in persuading that bard to spend the night with you. …Imagine playing a Face character, but you are the most eloquent person alive and a Nat 1 says “Wowee gee wiz you really moved us with your outstanding inspirational dialogue, but you still rolled a 1, so f*ck you.”

[@killianasheart5175]

@@Deoxys_Used_Mimic that ladder half is so frickin relatable.

[@sploofmcsterra4786]

@The MimiCreed this is why I allow for success if the 1+ability score is higher than the DC, and why I explain failures through circumstance outside the character's control. E.g. A charismatic character rolling really low accidentally triggered ptsd in their listener when they mentioned a certain town (where the npc's family was, as of now, brutally slain).

[@cryofigment4949]

@@Deoxys_Used_Mimic Sometimes things don't go your way And sometime things go the way of someone else

[@pafnutiytheartist]

If the keen mind player is actually transcribing everything they 110% deserve this

[@tekakiuluy3221]

That would be atrocious to play ngl. You're not even paying attention if you transcribe, you're just writing stuff up

[@Life-pq6lz]

@@tekakiuluy3221 But still,he listens most of time's. But kills riddles by not forgetting ANYTHING and makes some punch lines really dull. But i feel respected when player paying FULL attention out of interest or FULL META.

[@kevincandelario2573]

Honestly, I'd only allow stuff they wrote done. So its not completely broken, and he thinks he knows what the key looks like, show me what it looks like in the book, if it accurate roll with advantage to remember tiny insignificant details like jack reacher

[@doinyourmom7236]

@@tekakiuluy3221 A player in our group with keen mnd takes recordings of the sessions and takes notes after each one on everything that happens. With the groups' consent, of course.

[@Pokemaster-wg9gx]

@@kevincandelario2573 to be fair remembering the keys is not only completely realistic in DnD but there’s IRL people like that and you not having memory that good or not liking it isn’t excuse to whine and not plan around it Realistically you could just adapt by not letting the guy see stuff or plan around it by having him remembering some stuff actually be a detriment *or you could just be a proper DM and know what your players have especially stuff they actively use and don’t make forgetting be the sole difficulty*

[@crystallxix1493]

2:20 he’s so dedicated to realism that he even borrowed dice from himself

[@mcmosfet2856]

My favorite use of Keen Mind was when I made a worshipper of Mask who was a master of disguise. Charlatan background meant that he could create false identities, Keen Mind meant that he could study an individual and remember all the nuances of their speech and behavior, and Actor gave him advantage on Deception checks when acting as that person. He kept a notebook of various cover identities to review once a month in order to keep his craft sharp. Best "face" character I ever played. Even the other players were never sure what my actual backstory was.

[@AnarchicArachnid]

Did you name them Matt Hagen ?

[@0ne0fmany]

You've read the Locke Lamora books before creating that character didn't ya? ;) (if no, then you might wanna)

[@JTheTeach]

why would they need to review anything?? Keen mind.

[@mcmosfet2856]

@@JTheTeach Keen Mind is limited to a 30 day time frame. He reviewed collected identities so he wouldn't forget mannerism and the like.

[@jacej355]

That's an interesting idea I might take some of it

[@cogsworther1639]

Honestly, Keen Mind is such a great example about how something which adds *no* numerical bonuses can be really powerful at the right moment It's a perfect ability. I wouldn't change it for the world.

[@davidstratton696]

It gives u a bonus to an ability score so it adds some numerical bonus.

[@cogsworther1639]

@@davidstratton696 You got me there

[@tordix4467]

Keen mind is a great ability that's easy to abuse if you don't monitor it. If it's used to remind players events that happened "last week" (a year ago irl) or if a player is on the right track but is missing a detail their character has been exposed to, it's fantastic. It does NOT say "I don't have to pay attention at session because my character remembers everything and the DM has to give me the answer at some point."

[@johnathanera5863]

​@@tordix4467yes. It DOES say that actually. Keen mind essentially gives that character photographic memory. So yes. It actually does give that player essentially full rights to just tell the DM. I remember even the tiniest detail perfectly. That's the point of the feat.

[@FallenFromGlory]

@@tordix4467 it does

[@deurmekaurel]

When they say “I cast detect magic.” During a puzzle.

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

It's all magic. Overwhelming. All of it. You are blinded for 4d4 months.

[@ttominable]

@@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842 jokes on you fighting initiate: blind fighting gives me blind sight

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

@@ttominable Impossible! Nobody could take this Feat!

[@TheLegendaryLegacy]

Arcanist magic aura

[@RogueMelody003]

@@TheLegendaryLegacy such a good tool for a DM running a BBEG that uses magic traps. Make everything look mundane, I clouding magic items on themselves, and non trapped doors look like evocation. Is very useful to make the party paranoid and actually be careful.

[@SimonClarkstone]

5:46 Even funnier: the Tarrasque is really slow on the Astral Plane, because your movement speed there is determined by your intelligence. An adventurer could just run away from it.

[@lorekeeper685]

Well more so float away by thought

[@Kashlikaro]

It'll still be the Terrasque's turn right after that, there probably won't be time to flee with brain power.

[@samblanton9010]

*cries in 5 intelligence from rolled stats

[@leowulf5280]

@@Kashlikaro if I were dming in that scenario I'd probably have them re-roll initiative in the astral plane to at least give the player a chance of getting away.

[@MichaelRodriguez-zr2ht]

So your basically saying if you get caught by a Tarrasque it's insult on top of injury 😂

[@jeefberky9101]

Personally highly recommend working with a player who takes notes and uses keen mind, can make for some very neat moments when you both have the best memories of past events

[@Misha4em]

You know that they are as rare as finding a needle in a hay stack?

[@techwizsmith7963]

Personally, I love playing with the fact that you remember everything you've seen, so if you just didn't see it because you were too busy monologuing about your own brilliance to yourself then keen mind doesn't grab it. Makes it way easier on the dm too, while still letting you use some of the really dumb possibilities of keen mind

[@MexicanoLive]

Doesn’t work when the dm retcons 99% of what he did because he realized he made his dmpc into a child murderering psychopath, or that he let a player do that, but doesn’t want to deal with the consequences

[@OmneAurumNon]

Honestly, if a player is willing to take super detailed notes and rely on them for keen mind, I would be ok with it. If they're just going to ask me constantly and force me to spend time checking and remembering everything in the middle of trying to run the game, that I'm not ok with

[@Goatmaster-ek8rq]

@@MexicanoLive This is so me I mean like I barely keep notes myself and I'm the DM

[@Sohalia06]

I've never tried the Keen Mind feat, but I have had two characters that had an excuse to write down lots of things. One an archaeologist and scholar who just liked documenting everything and the other an investigator/detective. The raw power that note-taking provides in situations just like that, even, is amazing lmao It kinda makes me wanna play more characters that have such an excuse

[@Meowthix]

Honestly a MONTH of perfect memory alone would be a strong feat in most editions. Almost removes the need for survival and raises a stat.

[@thesong7877]

Truthfully, "excuse to write everything down and use those notes" is kind of the opposite of Keen Mind. Keen Mind is the excuse to not have any notes because you can just make the dm tell you anything, since the feat says you get to remember.

[@LordBaktor]

I had a character that wrote down what everything tasted like. Of course he had to take a bite out of everything to know what to write down. He was compiling a tome called "What things taste like". He died heroically while trying to figure out what a dragon's breath tasted like.

[@Sohalia06]

@@LordBaktor omfg That's amazing. What a way to go 😄😄

[@Hawk_of_Battle]

@@LordBaktor So I guess the answer is "it taste like Death?"

[@kinglink21126]

if you're dealing with a BBEG, you could always have him cast Nystul's magic aura once a day using the mask property, it can remove the paladin's ability to spam divine sense as an easy win button

[@stevie_ily]

So what I'm hearing is I should make a wild magic sorcerer who multiclasses into paladin and has the keen mind feat.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

if your a bully then maybe

[@R0GU351GN4L]

Nah, Monk/Rogue with Mobile feat, Basically an untouchable ninja, move in stun lock sneak attack run away. Your DM will hate you.

[@techbeef]

@@R0GU351GN4L And kill you.

[@sneakyking]

Correct

[@romxxii]

@@R0GU351GN4L with a 2-level dip in Divination Wizard so that any target you try to stun that has high Con saves will be forced to take Nat 1's.

[@cinnabunz1532]

I like to imagine Jacob is just going insane and this is him playing d&d with the voices in his head

[@rank10epic40]

Bro that honestly sounds like a good time

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

I love the idea that this means that Colton is just an aspect of Jacob's personality.

[@m0nkEz]

I wish I could do that. Probably be able to get everyone together for that.

[@nahuelmat]

He became a dad recently so going insane is totally plausible lol

[@realdragon]

But does it solve... scheduling problems?

[@Frantasia]

As the note-taker, I felt this. My dm has started to come to me for my notes when they have to plan things that rely on info from way back. I still have *everything*.

[@voidwalker7774]

you monster xD

[@farrex0]

I want to be that guy, because my memory is terrible... but at the same time, I do not want to spend my time taking notes, because I am missing the moments, and I also miss the opportunity to roleplay and or come up with things on the spot, because I am taking notes.

[@Frantasia]

@@farrex0 totally fair, there are so many player types out there, not everyone is a note-taker :D

[@ohmygoditisspider7953]

As a dm, I love that one of my players does that

[@Frantasia]

@@ohmygoditisspider7953 I like it too, actually. It just feels really good to be able to help and have the info. Helps a character we have with keen mind as well, they'd be like "i read that 4 sessions ago" and I can pull it up. Puts pressure away from the dm so they can focus on their stuff as well, and when they want to plan ahead without telling me anything, they just name a general area or plot point, and I just pull everything up I have on it, even if it wasn't about the place but that one sentence a character said in there.

[@MayBeSomething]

I was playing an Aasimar Paladin, and rolled an 18 on charisma, after adding racial bonusses, I had a +5 to Charisma. We were going through a forest, and my DM - sick and tired of me using Divine Sense and reminding him that Divine Sense is still active - said that my Diva was unavailable, so I couldn't use Divine Sense. She wasn't dead, but it was like getting an answering machine message from heaven.

[@deezboyeed6764]

This why we don't roll ladies abd gentlemen.

[@davidstratton696]

@@deezboyeed6764 That’s y we do.

[@Neo3602]

Honestly if your a dm and having trouble with stuff like divine sense there is literally a spell for that it's called Nystul's Magic Aura and it's a second level wizard spell that lasts for 24 hours (becomes permeant if it gets cast on the same creature/object for 30 days) and it can fool stuff like detect magic/divine sense and give no or false results.

[@haku8135]

@@Neo3602 You can also have a false lead, like some death sorcerer that gives a false positive who you focus on because you believe it's them, when really it's a totally different person hiding from your spell. There's always ways to subvert the easy solutions. But most importantly, read your spells!

[@EnternodeCS]

Honestly that's a skill issue on the DM's part

[@SophiaWoessner]

"It could be you, It could be me, it could even be-" *SHOTGUN BLAST* "What? It was obvious!"

[@livenishikireaction]

He's the vampire! Look, he'll turn to mist any second now! ...any second now.

[@floofyfurryfemboy]

@@livenishikireaction See? Mist! Oh, no, wait, that's blood.

[@toxicdemon1315]

​@@floofyfurryfemboy So... we still have problem.

[@Meethejarate]

@@toxicdemon1315Big problem…

[@chimchar87]

@@MeethejarateWho’s ready to go find this vampire?

[@Spectingthemvoid]

"Don't make me remember something else" was the most scariest thing I've seen this Halloween

[@Bulldogg6404]

We... have a guy who records the game sessions on audio file. He then listens over the whole session again while at work, and revises his notes in his free time. The dude is a player legend.

[@ieldore]

What the fuck

[@DruidForge]

Ngl, thats awesome

[@TheTacosAreHere]

One of my players is a Kenku and records the session to take down notes for her bird dictionary. So if I have any questions I go to her.

[@ieldore]

@@TheTacosAreHere This is such a cool way to do it. Do they also take notes of the voice that said the word?

[@TheTacosAreHere]

@@ieldore yep. We have a lot of accents so that tends to fall off, but generally the tone and who said what.

[@onlirier2993]

a hidden vampire campaign, but actually the whole town is made up of good vampires and it's just one vampire who's a criminal.

[@WexMajor82]

They have an artifact that stops the bloodthirst, but can also be used for having access to high level spellcasting if attuned. One of them is planning to steal it. If they succeed the party should RUN VERY FAST.

[@samuelblackthorne9122]

Divine sense also senses good and evil.

[@onlirier2993]

@@samuelblackthorne9122 They're all either good or evil, one's just a criminal

[@Snoil]

That's an X-Files rip-off! Excellent, I rip off the Files too as a DM 8>D

[@WexMajor82]

@@Snoil That's actually a Suikoden 2 ripoff, but I don't expect too many people to know that game.

[@DwaineWoolley]

1:51 "Shhhh" Man I cracked up

[@leoluster5773]

it was the "don't make me remember something else..." for me

[@lolli_popples]

One of my players correctly guessed that one character was the main villain as a joke right away, and I have successfully made them forget about it. My greatest fear is that as the foreshadowing amps up they’ll remember again.

[@nessesaryschoolthing]

I mean, it might make for an even cooler moment if they actually figure it out from the foreshadowing rather than being surprised by the reveal. Though of course idk the specifics

[@TheNeilBlack]

You just have to use it to make them seem even more unlikely as the villain. "No way it's that guy, we called him a villain as a joke! It's gotta be the other guy."

[@sharangdhanbhave9433]

This exact thing happened with our curse of Strahd game. The DM introduced a character that sounded a lot like Strahd..... The party even joked about it.... For 30 whole sessions. And then the DM reveals in the final battle that this character was actually Strahd in disguise

[@FarrTheFox]

Or they remember your KZbin tag name and see this message~.

[@johntodd6413]

I think the best way to do it is too lean into really hard while also making a bunch of red herrings, chances are they'll assume the character is just another false alarm. Just make sure you go that route on the 2nd or 4th fake out, everyone will probably suspect the 1st, 3rd or 5th to be the real one because we all have monkey brains.

[@TheHalogen131]

"The Tarrasque has one target. It's you!" Must be one of the scariest things a player can hear.

[@Fluxaterion]

Wizard casting fly:

[@morrigankasa570]

The scariest thing they could hear..."WE ARE PLAYING RULES AS WRITTEN"!

[@sadrakeyhany7477]

​@@Fluxaterion a level one aarackra :

[@brainded3451]

@@sadrakeyhany7477 with sacred flame and free 1.5 hour of time

[@hammdogporkington3058]

2:20 "Can I borrow a D20? Thanks" while awkwardly leaning over the table is so real These little asides are often my favourite parts of D&D sketches because you realise how universal many of these experiences are

[@littlemisspipebomb4723]

It's the little things like repeating "been a while" or making off handed puns that gets me

[@Monkeespankr]

how tf you not have a d20!? no you cant borrow mine! lol

[@magicrainbowkitties1023]

Or the amount of times your table gets side tracked and it takes no less than 5 "ANYWAYS" to get back to the game

[@brosef4154]

@@Monkeespankr there's always the people with no dice and people with 3-5 sets of dice at the table.

[@BelegaerTheGreat]

*I would love to have a player dedicated (and mad) enough to transcript our sessions!*

[@WhiskeyNovember]

In my first ever DnD game I played a Pact of the Time Warlock who wrote down EVERYTHING, so I had a reason to take notes in character. Since then I keep the same practice, take as many notes as my character would, which sometimes comes back to bite me when my intelligence 3 character only takes notes in poorly drawn windows paint format.

[@pitrex111]

In all due respect, if Player is able to transcript whole session and not impeding the session I'd say he deserved to have that transcript

[@thegodofallakira6349]

I do mine over discord and I literally just screen record that shit so I can rewatch it for important stuff 😂

[@becausereasons8507]

court reporters in the background: ~ hello ~

[@tergartcunninghan2013]

Currently in a campaign with someone who actively does this. I only do it for important lore bits, but they put down mostly everything

[@turin236]

I love players who do this, and take notes. It's so nice when people remember what you have said and hinted! Best players!

[@Madhattersinjeans]

@@tergartcunninghan2013 That's incredible. I hope they know that is incredible. They're basically writing your screenplay word for word.

[@DParkerNunya]

That exasperated "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS, BUT YOU DO" is, in my experience, the only reaction players are going for when the pick up keen mind

[@erikhermansen3431]

Was expecting a reply like "It's Friday."

[@ooccttoo]

the delivery on "I don't even know what day it is in this game! But you do! And you're always asking!" actually broke me for a second, the sheer pedantic fury was so on-point for how DMs often feel XD

[@insaincaldo]

Felt just like when my DM suddenly needs to explain in detail, the architecture of a random unimportant building and however awe inspiring the carved finishes on the stonework could be, if it was actually any impressive building our Dwarf was asking about.

[@rjspiteri5758]

Reminds me of when I suddenly had to determine what year it was in a homebrew setting my wife and I created because we allowed a player to play a warforged who had been dormant in a Dwarven workshop, but had no memories of his life, and I needed the dwarves to have kept records, so he didn't think he had been a slave. Up until this point, the only historical reference to go by was that the region had been sealed by a nearby nation thousands of years ago, around the time the nation was founded.

[@DH-xw6jp]

It should have smash cut to the note taker glancing at his book and: "uhm... It's tuesday"

[@canadian__ninja]

Funny story about that tarrasque one, I had a similar in concept fight going on where one of the players sacrificed his character to close a breach between planes, something akin to TES 4 Oblivion's Oblivion Gates. Was an incredible moment because when I wrote that campaign arc they were expected to lose that fight and retreat as the town is destroyed, but instead saved it and gained a small victory over the BBEG.

[@delguin5447]

“Don’t make me remember something else” is unironically such a threatening line god damn.

[@Baconpancakes0]

I have been guilty of both using divine sense like this and have also experienced what it's like to have one of my players use divine sense like this

[@magnus6801]

Заклинание 3 уровня позволяет не быть целью любой школы прорицания. Просто используйте все заклинания, если игроки используют все заклинания.

[@shadowlord1418]

It actually being useful is a surprise

[@gavinerickson9392]

As a DM, it's always a good idea to know your players features and abilities as well how they like to play, that way you can craft scenarios that surprise your players or make them think of unconventional solutions to problems.

[@handles438]

While I agree, I think that's only valid if you're GMing for like 2 people. Once you have 3 or more they pretty much have every corner covered so long as they pick different abilities. 5e is just too obsessed with giving players easy outs instead of letting them face a challenge.

[@XPtoLevel3]

this is the real point of the video ooh aah look at how clever and deep I am

[@scooticusmaximus]

but also, let your players sometimes use their abilities to solve problems. That's why they have them. They're gonna feel like shit if they picked Paladin and every time they use Divine Sense it doesn't work, and you reveal to them that the vampire masked his presence or something.

[@bokoblin980]

@@XPtoLevel3 hello

[@bokoblin980]

Hey I'm a new dm can you give me a couple of ideas please

[@МолчаливыйКлинок]

To all DM's for the first one: Nystul's magic aura is just a level 2 spell that lasts for 24 hours. It not only makes vampire BBEG invisible to paladin senses, they can even make any object radiate necromantic aura. Have fun watching players panic because all their loot feels like death!

[@lukesolo1677]

Source?

[@kingfail3819]

@@lukesolo1677 Literally just the Player’s Handbook.

[@Aredel]

You, sir, have absolutely saved my bacon.

[@g80gzt]

@@lukesolo1677 Nystul's Magic Aura. or just Magic Aura for basic rules.

[@godlygamer911]

@@lukesolo1677 Are you mentally challenged?

[@chaoticmidnight1783]

DM: *creates an imagery how my spell worked and how the enemies were damaged or killed by the intense magical energy I made Me, a wild magic sorcerer user: "Also DM, I'm a potted plant again."

[@TheMaskedFrenchMan]

"Don't make me remember something else," What a strange an oniomus threat

[@mythmaker26]

Oh man, lucky that first DM knew that the Nystul’s Magic Aura let’s him mask creature types from a paladin’s divine sense.

[@Burninbodies]

Every BBEG should employ a mage to make them a ring of mind shielding. Or make one themselves.

[@Kashlikaro]

"Congrats, you successfully completely neutered an entire already-highly-niche class feature that the Paladin gets to have with a simple 2nd level spell"

[@philiphockenbury6563]

Or you have a party member who also counts as the exact same creature type that you are trying to find. I'm still mad about it. It's so cool yet so shit and useless. Honestly, to make it more useful have them also be able to be expended as 5 more health for the lay on hands pool. Also Divine sense is only a binary on or off, because it doesn't tell you how many or where they are. Because fuck you.

[@anonimase4315]

@@Kashlikaro Well it's either that, or have your BBEG be a complete moron and ignore a spell that makes his entire plan possible

[@AshtonTheMelon]

@@Kashlikaro "Oh no. My Divine Sense didn't work here. Playing a Paladin is useless!" -Said by no Paladin ever.

[@karifaevt]

I used locate object much like this divine sense. A kid we were training was kidnapped, I argued to the dm that he's a good boy and I told him to keep my dagger with him at all times, he would have my dagger. Because I was very familiar with my dagger, and we logiced some logic, it was a port city, the kidnapper probably has him in a warehouse near the docks. Only took us 2 castings of locate object (20 minutes) to find his exact location.

[@slammurai6492]

I've had the idea to pay a blacksmith to make some custom coins that I could slip into peoples pockets and the cast locate object on the coin, causing it to become a tracking chip

[@KaleidosXXI]

That seems more like the DM just handing it to you because they didn't want to make a thing out of it or because your party messed up and lost the real solution. There's no chance that dagger's not being found and tossed by the kidnappers, and even less chance that the kid was just allowed to keep it after it was found. Literally the first thing a kidnapper's supposed to do after grabbing their target is search them for traceable items, weapons, and things that might aid in escaping. A dagger fills out 2/3 of those by default.

[@DoABarrelRol1l]

@@slammurai6492 well- until they ‘spend’ the coin and you end up at a bank or trading post. I guess like same-day that would be very helpful but I imagine a few weeks from the coins exchanged hands.

[@ryuhere4014]

@@DoABarrelRol1l then a sort of business card. that could work.

[@Gigabyte019]

0:13 “It was obvious, He’s the Red Spy!” - Blu Soldier TF2

[@thatguyyousawonce7671]

"Watch! He'll turn red any second now. Any second. See? RED! wait no, that's blood."

[@Gigabyte019]

@@thatguyyousawonce7671 “So, we still got problem”

[@thatguyyousawonce7671]

@@Gigabyte019 "Big problem... Alright, whos ready to go find this Spy?"

[@Gigabyte019]

@@thatguyyousawonce7671 “right behind you”

[@Boxfoxyy]

@@Gigabyte019 DOOT DOOT DOOT DOOT, DOOT DOOT DOOT DOOT DOOT

[@Elegiast]

I can sort of relate to your Keen Mind rant. At least the part about players remembering more than the DM. It’s not exactly the same and I’m on the player side of this, but I have been known to pick up little details and hints my DM leaves unintentionally. This results in situations like the one where I suspected an NPC was some kind of impostor or doppelgänger, since we’d just encountered some of those and got separated in the chaos. So I spent much of the next session piecing together evidence and subtly questioning both him and other characters. The final part of my plan was to catch him in an obvious lie, by publicly asking the character to confirm something the real person and I had both been present for, while lying about the exact circumstances. But since the DM didn’t actually remember the event, he thoughtlessly agreed that it had occurred as I described it, never noticing the verbal trap I’d laid. The issue is that there was never any mystery there, nor was the NPC anything more than he seemed to be. The DM just had a poor memory. So despite my plotting and detective work all building up to the moment where I carefully unveiled my findings in front of several major figures who could apprehend the hidden enemy in our midst, it derailed his intended story and we ended up having to rewind our campaign to fix it all.

[@Madhattersinjeans]

oof

[@ralph-im-a-star-wars-wiggum]

I imagine that flustered DM Jacob just has a cardboard cutout of Logan's head as a reference point and he's just reenacting actual conversations he had with him. "The Tarrasque has one target. It's YOU!" "I cast snakes"

[@skycr7059]

Now we need a part 2 of scariest things DMs could say.

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

"Roll d20--Wis" during a bed scene. "What for?" "To determine how much levels that succubus pretending to be a barmaid you "masterfully seduced" takes before you realize it."

[@usxldcom7543]

Give me a Perception check

[@JackgarPrime]

Roll Perception

[@handles438]

"I quit"

[@Mello8201]

"What's your passive perception?" while you're camping

[@fractal_gate]

Honestly I would be honored as a DM if a player transcribed an important conversation. Hats off to them.

[@seancoyote]

Note takers are the goat. I honestly like it when they took notes rather than looking at each other and hoping someone payed attention to all the work I did. It is like a teacher getting pissed off that students took notes and actually passed the test, it really doesn't happen.

[@lucascousins6934]

I work around being a 'keen mind note taker' by having my character carry around a book, in which they write down important events, items, and discoveries, personal theories, and more. That way I'm not the note taker, my Character is.

[@jacobweaver384]

You need to do a short with ghostly flashbacks of Liam O'Brian annoying Matt Mercer in campaign 2 with the keen mind feat right before that "okay! next skit!" bit lol. I went right back there with the long look off camera

[@psyberian]

Best part of Wild Magic, rolling a 01-02. Had our sorcerer roll in the undermark while we were sneaking through an area with a bunch of drow. We just hear from the back a silent "oh no" then a fireball goes off killing a couple hidden drow near us. then he turns into a sheep, is surrounded by butterflies, a couple more fireballs, then he turns invisible. All while my gnome druid looks on in awe. He spent the rest of the campaign trying to get the sorcerer to explode again.

[@ZoeBateman]

6:00 Using a backup character, especially this one, as a threat is a new one to me but honestly terrifying. Not only the combinations of multiclassing, subclasses and feats, but the fact that someone is so willing to throw away a character so easily proves that this person is a psychopath and should not be trusted under any circumstances

[@GrimHeaperThe]

They'd have to roll godly stats to even do it.

[@danbrown7698]

@@GrimHeaperThe there's this wonderful thing called the point buy system. The build would only need dex, int, and wis, so with the correct race choice they may not even have many negative modifiers.

[@godofzombi]

I haven't done it yet, but I have this dream of making a string of human fighters and getting one killed each session and replace them with almost the exact same character And name them all after Dave Ryder from that MST3K episode.: Blast Hardcheese, Bull Bigflank, Crunch Bonemeal, Punch Sideiron, etc.

[@danbrown7698]

That would be glorious

[@Mystibump]

@@GrimHeaperThe Godly stats? Oh gee, three 13's...

[@LiteraryDM]

That Keen Mind rant felt like it went from on script to off script reeeeeaaal quick, and I felt every second of it.

[@zabloing8608]

ok that "it could be you, it could be me, it could even be-" could definitely be a tf2 reference, from the meet the spy video.

[@Peroroncīno-san]

i just recently got into dnd, i only did one oneshot so far. i found your channel and it tought me some stuff about dnd.

[@ShadyDoorags]

The Keen Mind feat was the first feat I ever took in 5e because I was well aware we needed to remember things and my actual memory is crap. After using it once, I immediately realized how broken it was for roleplaying, but most people in my group were combat focused so they never really got to see for themselves. (Plus our DM was pretty forgiving, reminding us of things our characters would've known).

[@robertbilodeau6073]

I took and, and decided my character forgot everything after 30 days. It pairs nicely.

[@joshy3614]

I always remind my players of things they would remember as human beings because I find it unfair to expect people to have perfect notes and/or remember sessions from weeks or months ago. As a result, Keen Mind really just enhances the detail I give my players

[@DimkaTsv]

@@joshy3614 is adding concentration check possible? Because if yes then you also can make them roll on cast with possibilities from "you remember but still glance over seemingly insignificant event as you cannot focus on details from amount of continuously information", to "you remember everything precise and clear. looking into events of seeked day you manage to get every information you need" Well, something like that. With check scaling from intelligence of course. I am nor DnD player, neither GM. So I don't know how rules cover keen mind

[@joshy3614]

@@DimkaTsv I mean that would be an interesting homebrew mechanic, but I think in practice it would probably feel stiff. At the end of the day, everyone at the table are friends trying to have fun together, and I think at some point we have to ask ourselves whether or not trying to punish (hyperbole) players for forgetting stuff IRL is truly fun for anyone, including the DM. And making someone roll for something which can completely bog a session down due to the party missing crucial information seems a bit too easy to go wrong. I just generally think about what the bare minimum my players need to be reminded of from previous sessions, and if they have keen mind, I give myself more liberty to flesh out the important details that most other characters wouldn’t care to keep track of. I appreciate the idea, this is just my take on it as a DM, and also as a player.

[@DimkaTsv]

@@joshy3614 Sure, i understand your position and not forcing anything. But for GM's that are sick of this " legal cheat" it may be solution

[@Wodferd]

Being the parties professional Stenographer is always great when it comes up, or when people forget certain things like names of characters we've not seen in a while or recognizing a last name / clan name or towns name, and being able to say "Oh shit, are you related to X?" and the DM being happy you recognized world building

[@FentonHardyFan]

I take notes, but usually only about people and events my character would know. Sometimes that gets funny ‘cause my notes say, “My Ranger ate breakfast with Sorcerer. The town guards protecting the temple we’re staying in seem undertrained and poorly equipped.” But during that time, the rest of the party was running around town causing three different instances of chaos simultaneously, causing the town guards to go on high alert and making many of the townspeople think their city was being attacked. None of that is in my notes.

[@TigerGamer32]

So, a thing that I just remembered when rewatching this video; at 2:30 wild magic surge happens and DM Jacob is now worried about his plot important NPC dying. For any other DMs worried about wild magic doing this in their games, RAW the Sorcerer player only rolls to see if Wild Magic Surge proc's if the DM prompts them to roll the d20 to see if it surges. So, if there's something the DM has planned that could possibly get ruined by a Wild Magic Surge at the wrong time, the DM does have the option to just not risk it.

[@cooldudeinc]

I was expecting his head to explode when he said “it could be me, it could be you, it could even be”

[@Ebolson1019]

That last one gave me Vietnam flashbacks to every toxic player I’ve had the misfortune of having at my table who would always say “if this character dies I’m gonna bring in an insanely broken one to break the campaign” This has happened more than once

[@allosaurus5415]

Rule number one: respect the DM, for nothing you can create will hold a candle to the almighty DM screen. No build is flawless and untouchable. They all can and will be crushed if a point must be made. On a less horror story-ish note, the point of the game is to have fun and no one should threaten to punish anyone else without good reason, and even then it is probably smarter to remove them rather than make the whole game unfun over it.

[@vindik8or]

"Isn't it just crazy how after Brian's new character arrived this entire campaign became almost entirely focussed on social roleplay encounters?"

[@jeremymullens7167]

I’m of the opinion the DM gets veto power on character options. If the DM thinks something is unbalanced or some combination is they can ban it.

[@breadg1818]

There stupid broken charecter is no match for a bunch of rocks

[@void735]

The player can make the most broken class imagenable. The DM can make smart enemies. And alter their stats in anyway they want not needing predetermened rules on why there imune to any effect or damage. Dont try it

[@atomkuehne]

"Don't make me remember something else" is such a menacing line

[@diogoteixeira4950]

That Divine Sense thing: there are a really big number of spells that let you circunvent that, just say your bad guy has one of those About Keen Mind: Matthew Mercer already showed us how to (masterfully) deal with Keen Mind abusers

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

How, btw? I'm not acquainted with his work.

[@gamingmaster6377]

yeah, you better tell us, or I will reveal where you LIVE to the entire Yakuza fandom (we are like 5 dudes AND we're completely deranged)

[@diogoteixeira4950]

@@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842 look for "Matt Mercer is not a fan of keen mind" on youtube

[@steve7745]

@@gamingmaster6377 hello fellow deranged Yakuza fan, which number are you? I think I'm 4

[@gamingmaster6377]

@@steve7745 number 2 here, im looking for number 5, he said he saw "yakuza enemies (california policemen)" and how "he was going to totally wallbound combo them". Which means that he is going to jail for life, a Yakuza 3 fan is completely insane (and probably morbidly a beast), so after assaulting the cop he will probably bite him or something

[@SomewhatUnique]

LOVED THE SUBTLE SPY JOKE AT THE BEGINNING

[@atofpoke2297]

"It could be you, it could be me, it could even be-" **gunshot** "What, it was obvious, he was the red spy!"

[@writerbiter3372]

Okay but as a note taker I am perpetually terrified of DM accessing the group notes and weaving a puzzle through clues and red text 😅

[@cronnie994]

The fact that all these nightmare characters are also you is somehow refreshing. The conflict is cartoonish and doesn't make me nervous. You can get angry in your skits because no one is actually affected. I like it.

[@sonmi2246]

Why would it make you nervous? It's a YT skit...

[@bouncycomix]

@@sonmi2246 We all have arguments with our friends. For some people, re-enactments of similar arguments, even ones that are intended to be comedic, can get a bit too real.

[@cheetman1]

@@bouncycomix arguments are important to being a well adjusted human, our needs and desires often create conflict and that conflict must be negotiated my friend

[@bouncycomix]

@@cheetman1 Sure, but that doesn't mean we have to like them.

[@danielschroder5733]

Always impressed, how one guy can have a full conversation with himself.

[@shanerooney7288]

Same.

[@shanerooney7288]

Yeah. Me too.

[@seandavis1189]

always a pleasure to rewatch these skits. i miss them.

[@deadlooks1880]

"it could be me, it could be you" -Spy i remember that quote from team fortress 2 lmao

[@daleyd00d]

Why am I more invested in the game Jacob plays with alternate versions of himself than my actual weekly game I have with my friends?

[@halochristian]

Unintended counter to this exact thing happened in a session I was running yesterday. Big bad was a Bodytaker plant, which meant the podlings don't alert to Divine Sense, Detect Good or Evil, etc. GREAT secret traitor monster

[@KaleidosXXI]

Bodytaker plants and their podlings don't qualify for being unaligned because they're sentient life which means they have an alignment by default and it's most certainly not neutral or good given they're explicitly called malicious. They were just made after WotC stopped posting set alignements in monster statblocks.

[@benrinehart7776]

As someone who is playing a monk wizard with an AC of 26, that’s terrifying

[@isthisajojoreference]

Honestly if you're able to transcribe the whole campaign then you deserve Keene Mind for free

[@goodfellow3432]

The start of this is just part of meet the spy “it could be you, it could be me, it could even b-

[@kingrichie4220]

I’ve never been prouder than watching you make a TF2 reference. Your marriage and the birth of your child is a close second

[@williamwoznack5312]

Ah yes, a fellow cultured person

[@magicrainbowkitties1023]

Ah yes, my fellow cultured folk

[@richarddilkes328]

The player reaching across the table for a D20 was such a subtle joke but it really hit home, lol. Too real

[@CamperCarl00]

When it comes to players "remembering" something I normally have them make a history check. Never had someone take super in-depth notes before, but I also normally put any riddles into a group chat so it can be properly understood.

[@kimjong85]

Your comedic talent and timing is incredible, your videos always make me laugh

[@NoriMori1992]

That Meet the Spy reference is noticed and appreciated.

[@livenishikireaction]

"Look, see, vampire!" "No, wait, that's a spawn..."

[@user-ft7fq4ou4v]

Main thing I wonder about keen mind is if it means a wizard can memorise a spell scroll, so they can transcribe it even after using the scroll.

[@shadowbandit147]

Weird it's like scribe scroll is a 1st level ability in everything EXCEPT 5e

[@user-ft7fq4ou4v]

@@shadowbandit147 a wizard can always transcribe any spell scroll that's a level they can cast normally into their spellbook, if they have the resources. However, they need the actual scroll to do it. Is this different in other editions?

[@azrik6084]

@@shadowbandit147 Well you can actually just do this without any ability/feats. All you need is the ability to cast spells, time, and money.

[@patriciodaniels7168]

​@@user-ft7fq4ou4vThe transcribing is actually you testing the magic and the resources are non-descript costs to represent the learning of how to mark it down in your book. If you want a flavor reason to deny keen mind from allowing the to copy without a scroll, simply say, while you can recall the contents of the scroll, your never discerned what they meant well enough for you to cast the spell in your own way, making the markings, when separated from the magic of the scroll, pretty gibberish to your understanding. If they push the subject, you can decide if you want to homebrew the rules, and what the final verdict is.

[@haku8135]

@@patriciodaniels7168 There are actually divinely enforced magical rules regarding Wizards. This is like ancient DnD history. It's from the same reason that spells stop at 9th level. There used to be 10 and 11th level spells, and the first guy who created a 12th level spell accidentally killed the Goddess of Magic with it, which just turned magic off for the whole world, until after an hour a new goddess of magic was chosen and fixed the Weave (that's what makes magic possible). After this shit happened, she said "That's it, go to your room!" and banned spells higher than 9th level outright, she limited how much magic people could do each day, so spell slots and spell levels are CANON they're not just game mechanics. She also limits how many spells wizards can learn. So it doesn't matter how perfect your memory is, you literally cannot remember more spells than you have prepared. If you can remember 10 spells, if you try to remember an 11th you'll forget one of the other ones. That's why spellbooks are so important for Wizards. In addition each Wizard has their own special notations and things for spells, so a scroll you find needs to be deciphered and studied for HOURS to figure out all the details you need. I would NOT allow a Wizard to decipher a spell scroll they do not have, I don't care what level they are or what feats they have.

[@shaclown7721]

I once did that divine sense thing when the one-time DM who wanted to try a oneshot had a revenant as a "guide" to find an artifact in some crypt. Because there were undead in the crypt, i tried to find them, and i completely ruined his surprise. The disappointed look in his eyes was something else..

[@KnudAutlermann]

The whole "Keen mind raging-losing it moment" was very relatable....

[@cataclysme888]

This is really one of your best. Great job all around!

[@soggypard]

"don't make me remember something else" sent shivers down my spine

[@mr.mondomacho6815]

A new video on Halloween? Definitely not a trick, what a treat!

[@malakai2012]

remember, keen mind says "You can accurately recall anything you have seen or heard within the PAST MONTH" suddenly time keeping becomes important

[@thesong7877]

Which is why you say your character writes down everything you want to remember longer, and reads that every month. Now it's permanent.

[@Cpt.Croissant]

I love the Critical Role moments where Matt always got upset at Liams Keen Mind in season 2

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

Liam is gonna kill the series before season 3 I say this as someone who never watched any CR beside the cartoon lol

[@barbagianniv0lante107]

​@@senritsujumpsuit6021 they are at s3 already

[@WD_Gaster66]

@@barbagianniv0lante107 Yes, nearly at ep 40 too

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

@@barbagianniv0lante107 S4 then am not putting it past that person an their spooky name

[@BestTroIl]

Keen mind only works for the past month, so they are on a soft time crunch depending when they tackle the quest

[@Revener666]

"You can accurately recall anything you have seen or heard within the past month."

[@jerbearington]

This was the funniest thing I've seen in a long while. I love being note taker and having Keen Mind and basically it's just me stroking the DM's ego.

[@segevstormlord3713]

On the one hand, I empathize with the pain a DM feels when a player wants specifics. On the other, I actually think Keen Mind's perfect recall, aside from being THE reason to take the feat, isn't actually a headache if the player and the DM both agree to allow that if neither player nor DM remember the specifics, the PC's memory can either be "yes, he remembers this without us describing it specifically" or can be something new the DM makes up now that may or may not agree with what actually happened, but is now retconned as what happened. I'm greatly enjoying doing things like using Keen Mind to deliberately glance at every tablet in an ancient archive so that I can take the time to _parse_ them later, effectively reading them in my photographic memory.

[@Scorpious187]

"He could be you, he could be _me,_ he could even be *_JOHN CENA!!!"_* _trumpet sounds_

[@thatguyyousawonce7671]

"He could even be-" shotgun sounds "WOAH-WOAH-WOAH!" "What? It was obvious! He's the red spy!"

[@lukeario797]

"he could be you, he could be me! he could even be-" *anything happens*

[@samsnead7414]

I would still love to see a one shot where Jacob plays every character trope

[@openarmsasmr4939]

I have some hot takes on some of these for if I were dming. For the key scenario: Did you closely inspect the key to get a look at all of its details? Cause you can only remember what you've actually seen and heard, meaning you would've needed to actually taken time to inspect its features. The note taker with Keen Mind: Round of applause. Well played. Your character was active in the conversation, so Keen Mind would've worked. The Tarrasque: *turn to party* You all watch as your comrade dives into the deep maw of the Tarrasque, and within moments you see a bright flash. A wormhole pulls the Tarrasque into the Astral Plane, along side to teammate. You wait for a moment with baited breath, seeing what happens next. As you wait, seconds turn into minutes. And that’s where we're gonna end today's session, player, be sure to get me your new character's backstory before next game. If you're a player that tries to use cringy or op backup characters as a weapon against your dm so you can pull off stupid stuff, hope you're happy flushing the character you've worked so hard on down the drain, cause you're gonna that backup character.

[@segevstormlord3713]

Keen Mind lets you remember everything you've seen or heard for the last month. So you should get to roll that investigation check on your memory of seeing all those keys. Or create an illusion of the scene and let somebody else investigate it. Now, if the DM deems that the important detail is really hard to notice from the angle and distance it was seen, he can set the DC accordingly; it's not the same as being in the scene and able to interact with it. Can't illusion up what you never saw, and if you only saw it from one angle or a distance, you can't make finer detail nor what is behind it/on its other side.

[@RedSunUnderParadise]

@@segevstormlord3713 Sometimes players enjoy giving their OP Planeswalker/DC hero tier character a badass death. Ever consider that?

[@segevstormlord3713]

@@RedSunUnderParadise I have no idea how that's a logical response to my comments on the Keen Mind feat. Would you mind elaborating and/or providing the logic chain?

[@jukesdtj656]

@@segevstormlord3713 My guy one of the best things about Keen Mind is that you shouldn't have to be rolling Intelligence checks to remember things because the feat specifically states you can accurately recall anything you have seen or heard in the last month. Running Keen Mind that way makes it so you might as well not even have the feat.

[@thesong7877]

Keen Mind is like eidetic/photographic memory, meaning they would not have to have investigated it at all. A single sideways glance at the key would leave an absolutely perfect image of it in their memory, and then they could examine the memory to consciously notice any detail they didn't in the moment. As for the Keen Mind notetaker, that's honestly just redundant. The "real" Keen Mind users don't take notes because they can use the RaW mechanic declaring they get to remember to make the dm repeat anything they've forgotten.

[@its_vacx1213]

1:55 player : 15 dead 3 found gm : AHMMMMMMM WHAT!!?!?!!?

[@blkhwk1321]

3:33 when I started dming my first campaign, I literally said to my players, "please don't pick keen mind'

[@InsanityVirus]

4:46 That little quiet part wasn't part of the skit, that was just him rethinking his life choices cause he's dealt with this EXACT problem lmao

[@pathalenvivaldi7811]

"Alright, alright, I won't refer to the notes I meticulously took, geez. Instead I cast Dispel Magic on the chest, followed up by Knock."

[@blackoutbingo9530]

it looked like you almost dropped character at 4:41 it looked like you were trying not to laugh XD